Vice President Pence touted recent economic growth and job opportunities under the Trump administration during a college address Saturday, commending graduates for their “good timing” in entering the workforce.
“What good timing you have,” Pence told the senior class at Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian college in Michigan. “You’re beginning your careers at a time of a growing American economy and restored American stature at home and abroad.”
Pence sought to encourage graduates of the private liberal arts college, touting statistics suggesting an easy entry into the job market, including the 17-year low unemployment rate and spike in jobs added to the economy in recent months.
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“And the best news for all you new graduates is that there’s more job openings in America today than ever before in our nation’s history” he added, reciting a line used by President Trump in a recent appearances at political functions.
Pence, in his first commencement speech of the year, also encouraged the Christian school’s small class of graduates to bring their religious convictions with them into their adult lives, saying he believes faith in the U.S. is “rising.”
“It’s no accident or coincidence, faith in America is rising again because President Trump and our entire administration have been advancing the very principles that you learned here in the halls at Hillsdale college,” he said.
Last year, Pence gave the commencement speech for Grove City College in Pennsylvania, which like Hillsdale, foregoes all federal funding and aid.
Hillsdale sprung into the news in December when it was revealed the college could be a beneficiary of a tax cutout in an amendment to a wide-ranging tax cut package under consideration in the Senate. The measure was ultimately stripped out.